Europa Roundup: Ighalo nets debut goal; Azubuike, Moses advance

It was a relatively good outing for two former Super Eagles stars who helped their clubs seal qualification into the next round of the Europa Cup, whilst it was heartbreak for fast-rising youngster Bukayo Saka who could do little to prevent Arsenal from crashing out, AOIFootball.com reports.

Odion Ighalo: The former Super Eagles striker wrote his own history on Thursday night as he became the first Nigerian to start and score for Manchester United when he helped them brush aside Club Brugge to reach the round of 16.

Having made his debut in the competition last Thursday, the 2019 AFCON golden boot winner was handed his first Man United start, whilst David Okereke led the line for the visitors who were without talisman Emmanuel Dennis.

Bruno Fernandes put United 1-0 upon 27 minutes before Ighalo made it 2-0 four minutes after the half-hour mark when he fired home from a Juan Mata cross with returnee Scott Mc Tominay also finding the net before the break to solidify their advantage.

A second-half double from Brazilian midfielder Fred saw the Red Devils complete a 6-1 aggregate win as they now continue their quest to reach their second final in 4 years.

Ighalo who was on for the entire match duration finished with a rating of 7.1, made 2 key passes, completed 78% of his passes and also had one goal-bound effort blocked.

Victor Moses: The 2013 Europa League winner was on from start to finish as his Inter Milan side survived an early scare before defeating Ludogorets 2-1 to advance on a 4-1 aggregate scoreline.

The wing-back finished with a rating of 7.0, completing 100% of his take on, making 2 key interceptions, winning 3 duels and also completing 79% of his passes attempted.

Azubuike Okechukwu: The former Dream Team captain was on from the start for Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir as they overturned a first-leg 3-1 deficit over Sporting CP to win 4-1 and advance to the next phase of the competition.

First-half strikes from Martin Skrtel and Danijel Aleksic put Basaksehir 2-0 up before Luciano Vietto pulled one back for the visitors before Edin Visca scored on the dot of 90 minutes to make it 3-1 and send the game to extra time.

Just like he did in normal time the forward then showed great composure to score the winner in extra time from the spot as they claimed a 4-1 win on the night and a 5-4 aggregate win to remain on course in the competition.

Azubuike who was on for 77 minutes, finished with a rating of 7.0, completing a game-high 98% of his passes, winning 7 duels, 2 interceptions, 2 key tackles and also completing all 100% of his take ons.

Bukayo Saka: The 18-year-old featured for an astonishing 120 minutes as his Gunners side blew away their first-leg win to crash out of the Europa League after losing 2-1 in extra time to crash out on away goals rule.